7mo old black lab is too excited!

Help!

We have a 7 month old Black Lab that is easily excited, and urinates as a result. We give her lots of attention and play, and she's very happy, playful, and loving. She does not urinate secretly in the house, nor does she urinate in her crate. However, she urinates every time she is excited (which is often).

Every time someone that isn't me or my boyfriend pets her, she urinates. We even have two other roommates in the house that she sees several times a day and she will still urinate if they pet her. Every time we go to hook her leash to take her out, she will still urinate from excitement.

Again, she is able to hold it. She does not go in her crate or in the house unless she is excited. I know that this is a "puppy trait," but is there anything we can do to help her control herself? I'm just not content in waiting for her to grow out of it.

My black lab used to do the same thing. When people would come to the house we would put her outside right away and give her the "go potty" command. Once she had gone we'd let her back in the house to greet them. She outgrew it by the time she was a year old.

It's called submissive urination and is pretty common. I would do as Labradorable says and get her to empty her bladder when you are expecting company and if that is not adequate (as some dogs seem to be able to produce pee on command) I would crate her when company arrives until the excitement of greeting has passed. People should come over to the crate and greet her then walk away and let her settle and she will probably be calmer when she comes out. Some of this is habitual so if you have enough encounters where she does not urinate she may habituate out of it.

Also - get her out into social situations more often - like to parks and such. Places where it is not a disaster if she submissively pees. If she greets someone and does not urinate I would reward her (while not amping up the excitement level). Like everyone else has said - she will outgrow it but I know it is annoying and embarassing for the moment.